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PRESENTER: I am an educational consultant with Early Intervention Technical Assistance, and I am from the Pittsburgh office of PaTTAN, and so I am your facilitator of this session. If you any questions or

any needs, let me know. And I have the honor of welcoming you to this session on connecting with families about positive behavioral interventions and supports, and introducing Rose Snyder and Donna

Trach. Interestingly, they have been implementing the PBIS at their sites for the past couple of years for birth through kindergarten age even before we had grants to do that, which I found especially

interesting. So what they will share with us today is specifically the strategies that they used to engage parents in the process of their PBIS initiative. And so they both have had experience on

the core leadership team, as an external coach, and facilitator of the initiative, so I think we're fortunate to have two people who have worked on the initiative in various ways, and I hope you'll

find their presentation engaging. Thank you. ROSE SNYDER: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Rose Snyder and this is my colleague Donna Trach. Just a few little tidbits to let you know, first of

all, if you're wondering, I'm going to be sitting down some. I recently had some knee surgery, so I'm still recovering from that. So if I seem to be bouncing back and forth or sitting down and getting

up, you'll understand, I hope. Today, we hope to share with you just some information about how we engaged families in the PBIS process and what that looked like for our programs. I represent

the Masonic Village Childcare Center, and we are a Hildebrandt learning center. I am on the core leadership team at this point as a community partner, previously was the administrator of the program

but now work for the Pennsylvania AUIC, the NACE Pennsylvania affiliate. So I represent a little bit of a different role now with you, the center, and the program. Donna works for the Lancaster

Lebanon Intermediate Unit Thirteen, and she has been the facilitator and coach for the program at both Elizabethtown Community Nursery School and the Masonic Village Childcare program, two programs

in the same city who happen to be part of the PBIS grant. So we've been really fortunate to have one another to lean on and to work through the processes together. So today, we hope to give you

some thoughts about how we engaged in the process and how we engaged families in the process, but you need to understand this is one place in time and we represent an early childhood program, so

it looks a little different for each and every one of you. Engaging parents on the school level and engaging parents in an early childhood level look differently, and we know that. But the

strategies are the same in terms of what's necessary to engage families. So and we don't have all the ideas. These are just things that worked in our setting. Before we get going too far, we'd

like to know a little bit about you folks. So if you would, if you'd just raise your hand. We'd like to see what representation we have from early childhood programs. So if you're an early childhood

provider, director, administrator, teacher? Okay, great. How about school district programs? Okay. And of those school district programs, are they early child -- do you have early childhood programs

in your school districts? Yes. Okay, great. How about people who represent facilitators, coaches, IU staff? Okay. And others that I've missed? Sir? Elementary principal, thank you for coming. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Parent

Parent, fabulous. AUDIENCE MEMBER: [inaudible]. ROSE SNYDER: Okay, university representing family partnerships and family engagement. Okay, wonderful. So the first question that I have for everyone

is -- I just want to welcome you, and can somebody just give me some ideas? What do you want to gain from our time together today? Does anybody want to share with me a little bit about what you

Some strategies that we may have used in our program that worked. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Outcomes. ROSE SNYDER: Outcomes, okay. You talking about statistical outcomes? Okay. We'll touch on that. We don't

have as much on that, but yeah, we can certainly talk with you afterwards about some of those pieces too. Okay? AUDIENCE MEMBER: [inaudible]. ROSE SNYDER: Okay, all right. Other ways of engaging

parents, because there are a multitude of ways, obviously. All right. Does anybody before we really kind of get into things have any questions, burning questions that you would like answered? As

Dina said, we were engaged in the process for PBIS from the very, very beginning. When we implemented the PBIS model at Masonic Village, we implemented it from all of our classrooms from the very

beginning, infants through our kindergarten. We have a full-day kindergarten in our school. And one of the difficult things when we first began was that we didn't have a lot of information

about infant toddlers, so that was, you know, kind of a stepping stone for us in the learning process, but we'll talk about that a little bit later. In this session, we will identify some barriers

to including families, highlight strategies used to include families in the PBIS model, also identify the impact that engagement has on the center, the staff, the families, and the children. And

then we will also brainstorm some additional ideas from you folks about what kind of strategies may be able to be implemented on the school level. So as we start to talk about barriers, let's -- I

want to engage you in some conversation. And this -- I hope that you will feel comfortable enough to ask questions if you have any questions. Very informal, I'm a really informal person, so let

me have it. If you have questions about things or things come up, please feel free to ask and engage with us. So let's talk a little bit about some of the barriers. What do you see as barriers? Can

somebody shout one out? We're going to have Ms. Tam up here. She is our program and curriculum specialist and the internal coach at the facility, Masonic Village. So she's going to chart these for

us. So what are some of the barriers that you folks have expressed and seen in your programs? Time. That's probably the biggest thing. Parents having time. Others? AUDIENCE MEMBER: Trust

Lack of trust relative to [inaudible]. ROSE SNYDER: Okay, all right. So trust with the administration in some respects, and with teachers? The system in general. Okay, great. Yeah, that's a really

good one. All right, some others? AUDIENCE MEMBER: It sort of goes with time, but low attendance when teachers and others attempt to have trainings. ROSE SNYDER: Okay, low attendance, and we believe

that it may be a time factor in attendance at functions and events, okay. AUDIENCE MEMBER: [inaudible]. ROSE SNYDER: Oh. Okay, that's definitely a barrier. Transportation and getting to that -- and

you say that you're in a rural area. I recently did a training for an organization in an inner city, and they had that very same problem because buses stopped at a certain time of day and most of

them did not own vehicles. So that was -- and I hadn't thought of that. I didn't come from that environment, so that's why this kind of forum is really helpful. Others? AUDIENCE MEMBER: I also -- I

work in a Head Start, so along with that transportation is it's also money. ROSE SNYDER: Money. Money to get there. Okay, money to get there. A lot of people experience, and somebody else may already

be thinking this, just money to have things. You know, you were talking about engaging in family events and having, you know, family training sessions and things like that. Just plain-out money

to either have a trainer or something along that line. Yes, ma'am? AUDIENCE MEMBER: Along the same line also, childcare can be an issue. ROSE SNYDER: Childcare can be an issue, and we can offer

some strategies for how we utilize childcare as well, because that's definitely an issue. Did I see a hand on this side? No? In the back? AUDIENCE MEMBER: A difference in perception in what the

problem is. ROSE SNYDER: Perception, perception, yeah. Sometimes the sky is blue, sometimes it's green. It just depends on how you see it. Okay, others? Okay. How about the -- and this is a time

issue, but you know, not only time from the perspective of parents. How many of you have experienced the issue of staff saying, well, we don't have enough time to -- it takes everything I have

just to engage children in my classroom today. I don't have time to worry about those parents. You know, I'm finished at this time of day and I'm tired. I don't want to come back tonight to engage

parents. Has anybody experienced that before? Yeah, that's a big problem. And I imagine in school districts, that can be a big problem too because you have, you know, issues of contracts

and some of those types of things too. All right, others? Did I leave anything out, Donna? Okay. All right. So as you can see, some of the things in here -- you know, one of the things that I sometimes

stress is just we're all so hurried. Everything just seems to go by in a blur. It's just very, very fast. Of course, as families we have so many things to juggle. As teachers, we have so many things

to juggle. There just never seems to be the ability to do it. Time is always a big factor. Sometimes it's just like we're hanging on. How can I do one more thing? Just one more thing? I don't know

that I can. And money is always a factor. It, you know, doesn't grow on trees and there's never enough of it. I also think that, again, sometimes it's just like, oh really? I can't possibly do one

more thing. Parents are so engaged with their children in after-school activities, ballet, baseball, soccer, all those types of things, so it sometimes creates a little bit of a barrier for us. So

just to tell you a little bit about our journeys together and how -- I'm going to just share with you a little bit about the Masonic Village story and then allow Donna to share some information

about the Elizabethtown Community Nursery School and their journey. When we first began, I came to the implementers forum two years ago. And you know, that was when I said, we have to do this. We

have to figure out a way to do this and really engage families. And we had already been on a journey similar, but we weren't really experiencing any real growth because I didn't have a lot of guidance

on how to get there from here. So when I came to the implementers forum myself and my, at the time, colleague, Deb, really kind of engaged in some thought processes together and talked about

what we wanted. We were experienced a lot of difficult and challenging behavior in the classroom with children, and we were -- we are a nationally credited early childhood program, so we felt like

we had pretty good relationships. We had, you know, a strong curriculum and there were a lot of good things happening and we had family engagement, but it just wasn't what we wanted it to be. So

Deb and I really kind of thought and brainstormed for a long time and then presented to the staff and talked to them about what it was that we were experiencing, and how we could get from here to

the next place. And how were we going to do that? We shared the red video and we talked a little bit about the things that, you know, we wanted to do. But as we did that, we realized that we really

needed to engage families and develop from the bottom up. So we started looking at the pyramid and realized that the first thing we really needed to do was look at that relationship. Because

you know, we had good relationships. You know, we always think we have good relationships. But when I started listening to what our families were saying, we had one-way relationships. And that wasn't

really beneficial to us, and so we started on this journey. And you know, we talked to the staff and we created a behavioral matrix in what we wanted the classrooms to look like in terms of creating

our three program- wide expectations. And so then we regrouped and kind of thought about that and realized that we needed to have parents involved in that as well and we needed to engage

them. So we invited parents, I shared with parents, took a very intentional plan and looked at how the long haul, how would we get parents involved? If I just asked them, hey, do you want to be

on the core leadership team? You know, I don't have time for that, I don't want to do that. So we began to really kind of intentionally infuse social emotional growth and development and take, literally

a year-long journey on building relationships with families that was a two-way street. So what did that mean? How was it different than what we did before? We really began to work with teachers

on listening to families, engaging them, and finding out what was it that they needed? You know, we stopped looking at, okay, what -- they need to be giving us this. They need to be doing this for

us. They need to be doing -- how are we ever going to engage them if they don't this or they don't do that? So we began to do that. And then, after we had done that through just our normal

fall family night, instead of telling parents, okay, we're going to talk about PBIS and how we're going to implement that, we just infused it into what we were doing in the classrooms. So they normally

came every year. And we have had, always had pretty good attendance at that. We provide food, it's something they do with their child. And when I say we provide food, it's nothing fancy. It's the

box of cookies from the closet. That is it. In the fall, I usually -- I'll get a couple gallons. We happen to be on a beautiful campus that has an orchard, and we can get apple cider fairly cheap

So I buy apple cider, put it in a little crock, you know, fancy it up on the table with some apples and flowers and, you know, they get the week-old sugar cookies from the closet. But they, you

know, they come and they eat and they talk. We ran the red video on a loop just on a screen that night, and parents -- didn't say anything about it. We didn't do anything, we just ran it

You know, parents are kind of -- I found that they were just standing there watching. and then some of them said, oh my gosh, like really, we have this problem. Or we -- you know, that's -- we're

experiencing that. We're feeling that. So teachers really kind of engaged them in conversation, just general conversation about, yeah, you know, we've really been experiencing a lot of this or that

or, you know, we've had a lot of success with this or that. And that's all. We just left it at that, let the evening go by, and it was a really good experience. And then a few weeks later

I sent a letter to them, and we'll refer to the letter later. And you might even -- I believe you have a copy of the letter in your packet of information if you got. And feel free to use it, it's

just a letter. But I shared with them kind of my vision about what we were hoping to have, and told them a little bit about that and asked them if they were interested in being a part of the core

leadership team and becoming engaged in this. To my surprise -- now we invited them. We agreed that we would take four staff and no more than eight people on the leadership team. Four staff

and four family representatives, and we got a number of representatives invited who wanted to be a part of the team. Now some of those people said, oh, well I can only do this much or I can only

do that much, so we engaged them in other ways. Like one of our mothers who -- she said, I don't want to come to any meetings or anything, but she said, I'll do whatever. So she became our person

who did the creative design stuff. She designed our symbols for our three program-wide expectations. We wanted to create an environment where children recognized things and adults recognized things

So we created three little characters to represent our three program-wide expectations. And they are on everything. You know, we tried to infuse families with that and data that went home and anything

you know, we tried to make sure that everybody knew. And that was one of the ways that we engaged families. So anyway, then as we went on, we had parents submit a paragraph about why they

wanted to be involved in this. And it was a really wonderful opportunity for us, and we did get four parents who agreed to be on the team. Eventually, that fell down to three, and now it's actually

at two. But they are still involved in other ways. They're not on the leadership team. We had two people move away, which is part of the childcare dilemma, people go. And they go very quickly because

their children age up pretty quickly, so we had that. And that gives you a little idea as to how we initially got people involved in the process for our program. I'm going to let Donna share

a little bit more about how they did at ECNS get parents involved in some of that. We'll talk more later about the actual intensity of the involvement and how it grew as time went on. DONNA TRACH: My

role -- can you hear me okay? My voice is a little scratchy, so I'm not a smoker, but I think it's allergies. Anyway, at Elizabethtown Community Nursery School and Hildebrandt, I am the facilitator

I had come aboard as a long-term substitute teacher for an itinerant position with the IU 13, so everything was in place for both of these schools when I came onboard. And I came, when I came onboard

I had to have some -- I only had the 24-hour training of what was going on with PBIS. I was really looking forward to this conference, so I hope you're getting as much out of it as I did last year

at the conference. It really helped gel things together for me. I had great support from Bill Golbreth, who was our EITA to give us assistance for just coaching us as facilitators and internal coaches

So internal coach, facilitator, same thing. As far as ECNS and their process, as far as I know, they had already been in process for over a year and very successful, but very slow-paced. And I

think that's the key, and Rose and I had a lot of conversation about this. That the key is to just realize, you know, it's a little scary, intimidating when you first get the grant, all the expectations

everything that's due, all the assessments. But if you could just step back and just understand that relationships take time. Relationships for tier one are the most important to get buy-in, buy

in from your staff, buy-in from your parents, for this to be successful. So just to kind of step back and take a slower pace. As far as my role this year, this past year in being involved, I've

led parent meetings that we've had with ECNS in the fall and also in the winter. And parent meeting, there's just two things parents want, it seems. More than anything, of course, to be able to

talk and to be validated, to be heard, and to get resources. They're a lot of times very frustrated, just really ready to grasp whatever. And of course, the parents sometimes that need it

the most don't show up at the meetings. We all know how that goes, but -- and I'm not directing it to these parents, I think it's great you guys are here. We tried to get our -- we have a parent

for ECNS that's on the board, the core leadership team, and she came yesterday, but she had a commitment today. She wasn't able to come. But all to say we had our meetings and as much as, you

know, we put out the resources and snacks and everything, they still were just totally -- they just wanted to talk. And as you know, people don't care what you know till they know that you care

and that's just the bottom line with this. But I just recently had -- part of our grant this year was an infant-toddler component, and I had a meeting with two's parents that I facilitated. And

we sat around and we did an activity. And just didn't -- I didn't get into -- I just gave a little background on myself, a little background on PBIS and what was, you know, the implementation of

that in the program, but just really wanted to hear them. So what we did, we got cards with emotions written on them: confused, angry, all different emotions. And the parents got to pick

out what card they got that was more meaningful to them of what they're experiencing at home or in their situation. And then we put the -- they got to get their card and put it on someone else. And

then when they're back, and they had to act out that emotion and have that parent guess. And it was fascinating to me the way the process went, because I thought people would be a little more intimidated

to talk and just, you know, really want to, you know, kind of go slow. But I'm telling you, they jumped right in. The most beautiful part of that? We had grandparents there and we actually

had some grandparents that were teachers in the past, so they had such insight and definitely strategies that have worked for them that could help these young moms. So it just -- the meeting took

a -- the whole meeting itself took a whole personality onto it, so. And I thought that, you know, we never had enough time. They wanted to meet again. Unfortunately, it was towards the end of the

year and, you know, there's just so much going on at a preschool at that point with, you know, class trips and all kinds of things going on, but that's been my experience as far as getting the parents

involved. I work very closely with the parents through the IU one-on-one with what I do with my work, and that has allowed me to go into the classrooms and work directly with the teacher and, again

reinforce a lot of these strategies. We have positive behavior support at the IU itself, and we're trying to educate all of the staff into implementing these strategies and understanding what

it's all about. Anything else? Okay. Sorry about the voice. ROSE SNYDER: Okay. So why should we involve families? What's the whole purpose? Anybody have -- want to take a shot? What's a good way

good reason? AUDIENCE MEMBER: They're the major stakeholders with their children. ROSE SNYDER: Yeah, they're the natural stakeholders. They are really the ones that we need to be involved and engaged

They know their child best. ROSE SNYDER: Ah, right there, right there is the key. And you know, one of the things that we found with engaging families, one of the most important things is when we

began to realize that, although we had expertise in child development, early childhood, you know, educating their child, they were the expert on their child. And one without the other is, in my

opinion, like coffee without cream. They really needed to complement one another. And it was very, very important. And when we began as staff and administrators recognizing that, as teachers, we

don't have all the answers, and when we help them to understand that we don't have all the answers, it really opened doors to engagement. Parents really began to become -- began to be involved and

really wanted to be invested in what was going on. So involvement is essential to the effectiveness of the pyramid model. Without that -- again, coming back to the foundation of the pyramid

model, relationships. And it's not just about relationships with the children, it's about relationships with administration, relationships with caregivers, relationships with each other. And another

really key factor in our program was the relationships between caregivers and teachers. That was essential. When the kindergarten teacher realized that the function of the infant teacher was crucial

to the development of her children, then it started to click for people. So that's foundational, and involving those families from birth all the way through. And the way I see this, if we

can involve families and engage families in the early childhood setting, as it goes through the public system, you will reap the benefits -- on the public system or the private schools, the secondary

schools, et cetera will reap the benefit because parents will already know that being involved is key to their child's success. Another reason is without concrete, positive relationship, we

know that children have difficulty developing strong social emotional skills. And that is key to positive behavior intervention support. We also know that meaningful relationships are reciprocal

And that was -- again, that goes back to what I was talking about earlier, is that it's not just good enough to say hi to Mrs. Jones when she's walking through the hall of your school. It's important

that she knows you care. Like Donna said, people don't care what you know until they know that you care. From the administrator to the janitor, if they don't feel like you have an invested interest

in their child and their family, it doesn't matter what you tell them about what is happening with their child. They will not become engaged. Because it's not a safe place to become engaged. And

parents, like children, need to feel safe to become engaged. Families, as this gentleman said over here, families have the biggest influence on their child, and that influence influences the

culture of your environment. It influences the culture of your environment. So developing your plan for family engagement -- and you really do need to develop a plan. You have a plan for implementing

your PBIS, but part of that is developing a plan. How are you going to strategically plan to make sure that you engage families? It may start out as just one or two things, but that will grow. As

we've learned, it grew over time, and family engagement became something more natural. It wasn't just something we did twice a year, it became an everyday occurrence for us. So we know that

in order to develop a plan for this, you have to commit to a culture change. And it is a culture change and it takes time. Know that implementing family engagement will not happen -- if you go back

and you take one thing from this, that's all I ask, one thing: that you commit to a culture change. And you really, starting with yourself, know that I have to put in a new mindset. You know, we

all know. I've been there. We all know that some days you just think, really? Little Johnny's parents could care less what happens to him. You know, sometimes it feels like that. But I don't

I honestly, and I'm sure all of you are the same way, none of you believe that there are parents out there who wake up in the morning and say, hmm, how can I damage my child socially? Nobody says

that. You know, people want what's best for their child in their ability to give that. And keep that in mind, in their ability to give that. And understand that every parent's ability is different

We recognize that with children. We know with children that every person's ability is different. Why can't we understand that it's different for families? So being realistic about that expectation

I'm probably way off of key here. Refer to your benchmarks of quality. There are some great goals in your benchmarks of quality that will help you engage parents more effectively. There are

three points, and we did include a copy of the part with the benchmarks of quality on there. One of them is to -- that family input is solicited as part of the planning process. Again, when we began

the process, we asked parents, what do you want from us as caregivers? You know, they want their child to be happy, they want their child to be safe, you know, but that also want their child to

feel important. One parent said to me, I want teachers to treat my child as if it's the only child in their class. So those of who are administrators who say, lordy lordy, what are they thinking

But the reality is true. And the thing of it is is that every parent needs to feel that, and they need to feel that from the people around them. Now that doesn't mean that, you know, you have to

cater to every single child's whim or every single parent's whim, but they have to know that in your heart, you want what's best for their child, just like they do. On the same team. Be intentional

with your actions and your interactions. Be very intentional about what you do. You don't have to go out and say, okay, this event is going to be a family engagement event because we're going to

blank, blank, blank. You don't have to say that, but you have to know how this event or this action or this newsletter or this, you know, little take-home thing is going to be engaging parents, and

in what level is it going to engage their parents? Observe, listen, and understand how families interact. And that's a really key factor. I thought when we began this process, and Michelle

can probably attest to this, I had -- we had recently done our NAUIC self-study. And part of the NAUIC self-study is there's a large component related to family involvement and family engagement

and family relationships. I was pretty cocky. I thought we got family relationships down pat. Our scores came back terrible the first time we did this. And I was like, what is wrong? Our families

love us! But what I learned by listening and understanding how our families interact, we were doing things on our level as teachers and administrators, and not their level, what was important

to them. And as I started to really listen to our families and really listen to what their needs, wants, and desires were, it started to click. And I was like, oh, we can do this because -- the

first example is family mealtime. In our community, it's a difficult thing, like it is in many communities. We're a rural community who has a lot of very, very ,very strong family values. We have

a lot of people in our community who are home-schoolers, so, you know, that whole close-knit family thing is very important in our community. You know, I knew it was important, but I wasn't

listening to what our parents said. And one of the things that they were saying is that family mealtime is critical in their home. They really want that. So when we began some of our family engagement

tools -- when we began some of our family engagement tools, we started to look with the parents on the team, what's important? And they were saying family mealtime. So we created a menu, a placemat

I don't even know what it is, a placemat that can be used at home, and it talks about the three program-wide expectations: I can be safe, I can be responsible, and I can be respectful. Because those

were our three program-wide expectations. Now obviously you're not going to do this at the school district level, but there are other things that you can do on a school district level. Find

out what's important to your families. And then it can -- it says I can be safe. I use walking feet inside. I keep my hands and feet to myself. I wait for adults to open doors. Those are ways, in

our program, that children can be safe. And it's just reiterated at home. It's a way to engage families in the conversations at home. Now they use this at school too. They have one at school

and they have one at home. Every family was given one for every child and, you know, they have them and they can use them. Some parents may use them, some parents may not. That's another key is

remember that not every parent will be engaged all of the time, every time. Be realistic about your engagement. And yeah, this is -- somebody said that this is -- it's on the moodle site. You're

welcome to use the idea or whatever you need to do. I don't know what the format is on there, but -- I don't know if it's in a PDF or what, but it was just simply made in a publisher, it's nothing

rocket science. Okay. There are a list of resources in your packet, and I believe the CSEFEL -- it's not on the CSEFEL website, it's on the moodle site, I believe. Yeah. But there are -- some of

that information is in there. Anyway, back to my point, which was to really learn and listen and observe how your parents interact. If your parents are interacting all like on-the-go constantly

you know, going to baseball, going to softball, going to this, going to that, then think about what you can use that's going to engage them in their car with their child. I don't know, maybe it's

a magnet. You know, I mean, it's just something little. And you're saying, well how does that engage them? If they have conversations with their child, they are more likely to become engaged in

the classroom. They are more likely to become engaged in the program. Brainstorm with staff about how you can engage the parents. Because staff are with them every day, staff listen. And

this may not be true on the public level as much, but your teachers on the public teacher level, they know what parents -- you know, what is important to families in their programs, in their classrooms

They know. They listen to the children. You know, they may not have daily interaction in the early childhood -- like the early childhood staff do, but they do have that engagement. And then

more importantly, invite families to be an interactive part. Invite them. You'd be surprised. All parents say, well nobody ever asked me. They just assumed I would volunteer, you know? And think

about that from the standpoint of, you know, every parent doesn't engage every way. And it's okay. We had a parent who said, I really want to be on the core leadership team but I'm not coming to

any meetings. So she was the person who designed our little -- she was our creative liaison for our core leadership team. We had some creative names too. So she was, you know, able to help us in

another way. I had another parent who said, I want to be engaged in this PBIS thing, but I don't know how to do any of this. I'm not -- you know, I'm not a person who can talk to other people. But

I said, oh, you are a person who can talk to other people because on Saturday night when you go out with the girls and you're talking with them, talk about social emotional development and how that

you know, how that's interacting with your families. And as part of the leadership team, you can engage those families in conversation, and then they become engaged in other activities in the program

How can families -- how can we involve families? Create a plan that includes everyone and start with administrators. Move at a pace that everyone is comfortable with. Donna alluded to this earlier

Moving at a pace that everyone is comfortable with is very, very important because if you go too fast and you skip through steps, then you're not going to -- if you're just trying to check off boxes

whether it's, you know, family involvement is supported by, you know, engaging families in meaningful ways. If you're skipping the step of getting to know them, you won't have meaningful ways. So

it's important to take time and move at a pace that everyone is comfortable with. Use what you know. Staff, we must have staff buy-in, family involvement is critical to the success of your

program, and time and money are concerns. We know, somebody said over here, they want to know how they can do this one on a shoestring budget. Think about your resources inside. Think about your

parents. What resources do parents offer? How can you engage them in that? And ask them to be a part of that. Decide what's most important to your organization. Think about what is it about

the engagement? What do you want? Do you want bigger attendance at a family night that you're talking about PBIS? Do you just simply want parents to understand PBIS or to know about PBIS? Do you

want more people coming to a meeting or training that you're holding related to positive social development? What do you want and what's important to your organization? Believe that every

family wants to do the right thing for their child. And we talked about that a little bit ago. Know that everyone will not participate at every event. They just won't, they can't. Do you participate

at every event that you're involved in? Absolutely not. I'm involved in tons of organizations and I don't go to everything that everybody does. I don't have time. It doesn't mean that I am less

interested in that organization, but the more involved, the more relationships you have. Because everybody wants to feel like they belong, a sense of community. And if you feel like your belong

then you want to be involved. You know, the organizations that I'm the most involved in are the ones that I have relationships with. It's the relationship piece, so continue to work on that. I know

I'm harping on that, but that's all I can say. That's what worked for us was the relationships. Keep activities and events a reasonable length of time. So many times we plan activities, you

know, family nights, school back-to-school nights, and they're two hours long or you know. Parents don't have that kind of time. Half an hour, an hour at most. An hour sometimes is hard. Like Donna

said, when we do our family education series, when we do those kinds of things, we find that an hour isn't long enough because usually they want to talk, but these are people who now have built

relationships together and they are comfortable. They have a safe environment where they can say, you know what? My child drops to the floor screaming and I can't handle them. I have no idea how

to handle this because, you know, it's a 45-minute fit about getting in the car. But they can talk with one another about that and it's a safe environment. So you know, that can grow as you grow

your relationship too. But remember that initially, you'll want to keep that in mind. Food is a draw for parents, even if it's just a snack. You can also solicit local organizations to donate

You'd be surprised what Giant will do for schools. You know, they'll give you a gift card for $20. We do an event where we have families bring a covered dish and the school provides the chicken

You know, we do -- everybody brings a covered dish and they provide the chicken, school provides the chicken, and Giant donates it. You know, so we have a nice dinner and it's nothing more than

families connecting. That's important. So do you have a comment? AUDIENCE MEMBER: We actually partnership with Wal-Mart. ROSE SYDER: Wal-Mart is another excellent -- AUDIENCE MEMBER: Wal-Mart has

a lot of money they like to give to schools. ROSE SYDER: They do, but it takes the asking. So it takes the administrators. You know, as administrators, be realistic. Go out there -- or find, better

yet, find someone on your -- parents, find one of your parents who's savvy at that. Maybe you know they belong to an association of some sort and -- but all of that is going to listening to parents

to find out, engaging them in conversations. More than, how are you today? Yes? AUDIENCE MEMBER: When you said Wal-Mart, they have like every other year you can get $500. Is that what you're -- AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yes

we get $1,000 every year. We made contact -- they actually made contact with our district. ROSE SYDER: Wow. AUDIENCE MEMBER: And what they did was they were providing different things. It started

with they were actually providing an opening-day breakfast for the staff for the whole district. And then they would contact each school and they said, what can we do for you? And I said, well for

PBS, I would like to have some award money for the children. So what they did was they provide me -- and I send it as a budget line in my budget so the district can't touch it. ROSE SYDER: You're

a smart man. AUDIENCE MEMBER: So when they say cut, I said it's not your money to cut. ROSE SYDER: It's not your money to cut, it's the family. AUDIENCE MEMBER: And what we've done is used that money

either I'll use it for my guidance counselor to buy her just stickers and pens and things like that. I make up all certificates myself for awards every month. But the other part is used -- if we

have something for parents to order a couple cases of -- ROSE SYDER: Right. AUDIENCE MEMBER: We found out to get more parents involved that if somebody aides, if we get volunteers, that parents

could bring their smaller children with them and they could watch the kids. And we provide cookies in there and we put them on the computer, but it's still -- we struck [inaudible]. So doing something

like this and saying, well what's this PBS stuff? You know, and we're in our third year doing this and I'm adding something new each year, this year being an awards assembly where any child that

gets an award, the family's invited to the assembly. And we've had great turnout at -- ROSE SYDER: Fabulous. Kudos, that's exactly it. Right, and you know, the hard part is -- you know, I had to

change my frame of reference. I had to remember that as much as I wanted 100% participation from people, family engagement is hard. And not because they don't want to be, it's just there are so

many things. So looking for those little catches to get them, and it's really giving them the information so they begin to, you know, be involved. And like I said, you're not going to go back and

everybody's going to -- I don't have a magic wand, and everybody's not going to say, oh, I want to play! I want to be on the team! AUDIENCE MEMBER: I just have a comment. I really think that early

intervention does a much better job than school-age as far as engaging parents. Because a lot of parents are involved in early intervention because there's a referral made, most likely from a pediatrician

And I think parents really try to keep that -- make sure that their -- but one of my things is as a parent, and I've never been involved in early intervention, mine is school-age, I have never felt

that there is any training that has been offered at my district that I shouldn't be allowed to attend. Well, I mean -- but as far as like with the school-wide, for instance, or with special education

One of the things that I think everybody across the board, whether it be in school or on the behavior side of things, you talk in acronyms. You talked in a couple acronyms today that I have no idea

what they are. ROSE SYDER: And that's a good point. AUDIENCE MEMBER: And I've been coming to these things for 15 years. ROSE SYDER: That's a good point, and thank you for that. AUDIENCE MEMBER: And

I think that when you have training, you're training your staff in the school, and if you send a letter home to the family, this is what we're going to be doing, and you have maybe one little thing

or two little things a year, you have -- in order to make them feel comfortable, you have to include them in all the trainings. Invite them. If they don't come, that's -- ROSE SYDER: Right. That's

on them. AUDIENCE MEMBER: But you professionals get this constant training. And you bring families in, and I don't mean you -- ROSE SNYDER: No, no, no, no. AUDIENCE MEMBER: But families are brought

in for this big kick-off that we're going to do, and that's the only time that families hear about it. ROSE SYDER: It's interesting that you said that, and Michelle can attest to this. We actually

did invite our families to attend our staff training. When we began the PBIS models, we invited the families to attend our staff trainings. Now we had minimal numbers, but actually one of the people

who attended the training did go on and become part of the leadership team because she was invested. We have since done other things because we recognize that we're still not good at it. All right

you know, I'll be perfectly honest. It's not -- we're not. And we still need to work, and that's an area that we need to improve upon and having parents involved. We kind of make an assumption sometimes

that parents don't want to be involved in that, and that's not the case. AUDIENCE MEMBER: It's not that they don't want to. They don't have the same knowledge about the program that you have about

it, and that makes them feel inferior. ROSE SYDER: And that is exactly why the programs like that Donna did with the parent education program and the parent education program that we did, that's

exactly why we did that. Because it was time for them as parents -- because parents and staff got together and they talked about the things that they struggled with as staff in a classroom. It was

not unusual in this particular -- this last format that we had for the parents to say -- I mean the staff to say, I can't handle a situation like this. And parents were like -- they thought that

we as teachers had it all together and we knew how to handle exactly ever situation and we never got frustrated with children. Well, they're wrong. I don't care how many of you sit here and say

you've got it all together, the reality is we get frustrated with children just like they do. And we get frustrated with parents. And they said that. And parents were like, wow, really? And that

just opened a whole new atmosphere. Did you have something to say, Donna? DONNA TRACH: I did. As far as the acronyms go -- as far as the acronyms go, sometimes I like to step back and just think

okay, what are my struggles with this or what have -- you know, what do I need? And as far as to be able to communicate well to the parents and the staff for the coaching that I was doing. So I

came up with a song, an alphabet song with all the acronyms. ROSE SYDER: I am not doing this. DONNA TRACH: She said she would not make a fool of herself in front of people. My voice -- my voice is

so bad that I don't think you want me to make a fool of myself, but I made up an alphabet song and I actually did it as an icebreaker for -- we had on our staff at ECNS, we had parents that were

part of the staff. You know, you have that a lot of times with preschool, and a lot of the paraprofessionals were also parents. So some of those parents joined in, and we stood up as the core leadership

team and got everybody on board, and we all sang this alphabet song using all the acronyms that we were engaged with just to try to have it make some sense. Now, of course, the definitions don't

always mean a lot to someone's who's not practicing and using that assessment or whatever, but they're -- you know, it is confusing to hear. And I was too when I first started and all the acronyms

that were going on. So, and it's PBIS and then sometimes it's PBS and then it's PAPBS. And I mean, and then it's facilitator and then it's an internal coach, so it does get confusing. But at the

end of this, I think this is going to be posted on moodle too? ROSE SYDER: Can you say what's happening? TEAM MEMBER: Well, you mentioned moodle and I thought someone might say, what's moodle and

how do I get that? We can post things on moodle, but the question is, how we can give them access to that? So what I guess would happen is I could give you my email address and then our moodle person

if any of my other team members have other ideas, please share. We have a person who can grant access, I'm not that person. But if there's -- maybe if there's specific resources that you're interested

in from today's session, I'll write my email, we can post it up there, and you can email me and say, this is the resource I'm interested in, and I can get it to you. DONNA TRACH: Okay. We actually

okay. We actually included our email addresses at the top of your notes page, and that was the reason, to see if you wanted information from us that, you know, we could email it to you. ROSE SNYDER: That's

okay. I'm done. Yeah, we did put our email addresses on their so you can - - and feel free to email anytime. I won't necessarily say I'll -- or know I'll have the answers, but I'll help you find

the answers. But you are very right about acronyms. And in the state of Pennsylvania, no offense to anyone on the state level, but we have acronyms -- it's like an alphabet soup. Like really? There

are acronyms for everything. And I am as the guilty as the next person, if not more guilty. Working at a state level too, you throw around these terms, and sometimes we don't even understand them

in our office. You know, sometimes I'm like, what was that again? You know, like we don't understand them in our own office, so it's not -- and I apologize to those who I've done that to today because

I try not to, but sometimes I don't think about it. It's subconscious. Okay, moving along because I want to try to get through everything. Honor every active involvement as critical to the success

of the program. Every active involvement a parent has, make sure that they know that that involvement is critical to the success of the program, whether it is cutting things out for a meeting or

it is doing the shopping for a meeting. And when I say involving and engaging parents, I'm not just talking about having them come to meetings. I'm talking about even the simplest, little things

can help people feel a part. And when you feel a part, you're more engaged, you're more involved. Some strategies, some strategies that we've used is make sure that you share your vision and passion

Share it often with anyone who will listen. People who know me know that I can be very passionate, and I will stand and talk for hours about things I'm passionate about, to the point that some people

are like, yeah, Rose, really? I've had enough. But it's important. Share your vision and passion for PBIS. Why is it important? Let it come from your heart. Aside from all the other little things

like, well, kids will behave better, I'll have better success, you know, outcomes will be better. You know, those things are aside, but really why does it mean something to you? And if it doesn't

figure out what's going to make it mean something to you? Share your team's passion with families upon enrollment and then often with families. We use a tool with families. When they enroll

in our programs, they know up front what PBIS is about, they know what the program-wide expectations are, they get a tool that says this is what it looks like, sounds like, feels like from the adult

on the playground, in the classroom, in the hallway. So they know up front the expectation is for everyone. The expectation is we are all responsible, we are all respectful, and we are all safe

And that means sometimes I've had some uncomfortable conversations with parents who have not necessarily engaged in respectful behavior with a teacher. Sometimes I've had uncomfortable conversations

with a teacher who hasn't been respectful of her coworker or of a child or a parent, you know? And it happens. It happens everywhere. Sometimes we just need to be reminded. This is one of our program

wide expectations. You agreed to be -- we also ask people to do a commitment. We ask them to make a commitment. This is a commitment. I want -- if it's not a good fit for you to be in our program

because you find it difficult to wait your turn when someone's talking to you, then this isn't a good fit. I want parents to know that up front. I want staff to know that. If you're in a habit of

being smart with people, this may not be the right fit. Now does that mean everybody stops being sarcastic? No. Be realistic. But we remind one another from time to time, this is what it means in

our program to be safe, respectful, responsible. Create tools that will share your center's vision. What do you have? What are you giving to parents that shares that vision? In two or three sentences

that tells every family who walks through your door -- when somebody walks through you program, whether it's a school, an early childhood program, a nursery, a community nursery, or even just a

family play group, when they walk through the doors, do they know what your vision is? Do they understand? And if not, how can you relay that message, both in verbal and in non-verbal? Share your

program-wide expectations. Like I said, make sure everybody knows them up front. If it's not your thing, that's okay. We can part as friends. I'm okay with that. Because maybe it's not your thing

but it's our thing. And this is a community of people who are respectful, responsible, and safe. Share the pyramid model. Make sure your parents know what that pyramid model is. Make sure they

understand that these are levels. And talk about them individually, talk about them. Talk the talk and walk the walk, so to speak. This just refers to this tool that we use. It's just one thing

Now this doesn't say anything about the pyramid model. I mean, and we did some -- we did some conversation and engagement before this actually even rolled out. We, as a team of people, sat with

parents and we gave it to them, we told them why we were giving to them, we gave them a little snack with it, you know, so that parents could understand and know what it was. Use multiple mechanisms

for sharing the program-wide expectations and goals. Your benchmarks of quality looks at family newsletters, looks at engagement from the standpoint of, you know, verbal engagement and newsletters

parent education sessions, flyers. One school district last night at the -- I'm sure others did, but I just happened to know this one. That you know, they give out these nice little cards, they

have the parents sign them, it's kind of like that commitment that they agree to the same things and, you know, they engage parents in bringing them back. They said they have like 100% participation

in this, and I was like, wow. That's impressive. But, you know, those are all things that you can do to encourage parents so that -- any opportunity to get the message out. Yeah, the poster

this poster in the corner, it's a little dark, I'm sorry about that. But that does highlight some of the things that we did engaging parents, so it does have some information in there if you'd like

to take a look at that. And I'd be happy to share any information. And these ladies in the front row can also help with that. Some strategies. Invite all parents to participate. You may be surprised

who will be your key influence. I've said that over. Look for parents and caregivers who demonstrate a positive influence and talk with them specifically about joining the leadership team. This

is a strategy that you can use. It's a little backhanded, but look for people in your parents who you know serve as an influence to others in a group. Okay, maybe they're all on the soccer team

together, but you know that one of them kind of is the conduit for everything the group does. Maybe it's just that one group. This can backfire on you, just to remind you, but look for that person

and then talk to that person and say, hey, you know, we have this thing going on. We really would like you to be an instrument in helping us to share the message. And talk with them about that. Those

people really -- you know, they'll talk the talk when they're out, whatever they do on Friday nights, doing that. They will. We have one group of parents in our program that can be dangerous sometimes

when they get together, but they have been an instrument in getting parents involved. We didn't do anything. They did it because they said to their friends -- and sometimes it's plain peer pressure

They're like, come on, you've got to come, you've got to come. We need people to come. And if that's how I got there, the information, once they got there -- one of the parents said to me, who her

friend coerced her to come, she said to me, oh, it wasn't that painful. Oh, okay. I said to her, I said, well will you come again? She said, oh yeah. She said, I'll bring my husband next time. So

I was like, yay! AUDIENCE MEMEBR: I think in my school in particular, a lot of our parents had bad experiences in school. ROSE SNYDER: And I think that's what this gentleman in the back was saying

inaudible]. But that's -- my thing is I can become a goodwill ambassador. I'm not just a principal. I have to be the one that greets and meets everyone every day, who says our expectations until

I have them memorized in the back of my head. ROSE SNYDER: Oh yeah, they're like on the eyelids. AUDIENCE MEMEBR: And but always be out there and remember they are the parents. When I'm long gone

the children in that community will still have that school of people, that community will still have that school. So my message always is while we're doing well, but we can't do it without your

help. ROSE SNYDER: Exactly. And not only that, but the important thing, when parents have had bad experiences, they do revert to that. And not only if it was a bad experience with them as a child

or it was an experience they experienced with maybe an older parent -- I mean an older child they had in the system. Bad experience will -- you can't erase it, but you can share the message with

them that, I realize sometimes things have happened that -- I mean, you know, be honest. I realize we haven't always been as, you know, interactive as we want to be in our district. But thank you

for what you're bringing to us now so we can make changes. Whatever happened, and I'm -- that's just my personality. Whatever happened happened yesterday. You know, it's done. It's over. But

that's my personality and I have a husband who's not that way. So I constantly have to remind him, and I have to recognize that he carries baggage. So when we have conversations sometimes, it is

about that place where I hear what you're saying, thank you. And I know that that bothered you a lot, but you have the power to make the change. Get involved with us. Help us make the change. And

if you can build that solid relationship, like you said, that goodwill ambassador piece. If you can help them understand, they can influence it. But say what you mean and mean what you say

That's another really key factor. Don't say something if you can't do it. If you can't deliver, don't say it. So that's a hard place to be in because sometimes as administrators, parents come to

me with things and have come to me and said, hey, you know, we want to have this. And you know, you can't say -- you have to say, I understand your concern and it would be really great if we could

do that. We're not in a position right now, but let's brainstorm together about how we could make the steps to make that change. All they want to know is that they're valued and their feelings are

important and their engagement matters to the school, whether it's an elementary, preschool, nursery school, or even any organization. That's all we want, that's all I want. And that's what parents

me to be a part of this. You wanted me to share in your vision. You wanted to share. And we spent a lot of time. Keep in mind, we spent a lot of time, almost six or seven months, engaging them in

thought processes without saying or asking. We just put the ball out there and just kind of talked about it. We engaged in conversation and spent a lot of time getting to know them. Some other strategies

Again, ask specific people to apply. That's the same type of thing. Look for skills that will enhance whatever it is you're doing. You know, do you have a parent who's really good at throwing a

party? Well you know, that's the person you get to help you coordinate something. Do you have a parent who's a lawyer? They can speak the speak and they can talk to anyone they know, not only at

home, but in their community. They can help spread the word in the community too. You'd be surprised. Especially on the district level, if parents are talking about this kind of stuff on the district

level before it ever gets into their -- when they do get to the classrooms and they start hearing this, they're like, oh yeah, I heard about that once. I heard about that. My friend told me about

that. And then they want to be involved then. Use every opportunity to build relationships with families and get to know them, and I mean really know them. Now you don't need to know their personal

personal personals, but -- because sometimes I could get over the top with that one. PBIS has been of the fundamental belief that positive relationships are the key to success for children. So tell

me a little bit, does anybody want to share some strategies you've used in engaging parents? In the back? AUDIENCE MEMBER: [inaudible] ROSE SNYDER: Absolutely. And you know, Head Start coined that

almost, you know, the Head Start visit in some ways. That is critical. When -- and again, it's that you cared enough. Somebody said to me, and this is dealing with a child, just by sending that

little Johnny a note or making that phone call home, you know, because he had a great day. And calling Johnny in particular and saying, yeah, I just wanted to thank you for really helping to be

respectful today, it made all the difference in my day. And when a child hears that, then a parent knows you're engaged and parent knows you care about them. And the same is true of parents. The

same is true of parents. They're just bigger. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Meeting and greeting parents on the recess yard or the school yard in the morning and the afternoon, a lot of times they're there with

their children, so you know they're there already, that they're available to be there. So what you do is you walk out and try to learn everyone's name, certain things, but also let them know you

know their names. ROSE SNYDER: Yeah, first names. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Exactly. A lot of times, you know, you wave, but they're just saying, oh he's just waving because he knows I'm there. I try to make

a point to get to know their names. [inaudible] smaller children with them, introduce myself to the smaller child. ROSE SNYDER: Yeah. Especially because you know they're going to be in your system

now for several years. Several years. So if it's a bad relationship, it's several years. Like really. Sometimes, sometimes those people are the ones you really want to focus on because good, bad

or ugly, they are part of your life. They're part of a community that is caring, respectful, responsible. They are part of everything. Others? AUDIENCE MEMBER: Well I think that -- well, I said I

worked at Head Start, I work [inaudible], I work with people that go into homes every week of families. And I think that it's important to -- well, let me just say how much I appreciate people's

attitudes about working with parents. I don't always see that every day, so I feel kind of warm and fuzzy right now. ROSE SNYDER: Good, hugs. AUDIENCE MEMBER: But I think that parents that we're

talking about that probably are going to want to come to these things often feel like bad parents because they have children who have behavior concerns and are coming in feeling very cautious and

want to feel like they are going to learn something, but also don't want to feel like they are the only ones who don't know what they're doing. You know what I mean? They come in thinking, oh my

gosh [inaudible]. So if you can approach them in a spirit of like, listen, I didn't know what to do here until I learned, and you're not going to know until you learn. And let's just say this: we

don't always know what's going to work even now. ROSE SNYDER: And not everything works with every child. AUDIENCE MEMBER: That's exactly right. That this is -- and that's the sprit that I think is

helpful. ROSE SNYDER: Yeah, definitely. One thing, I had a situation recently where I have a parent who in the former program that I worked in frequently had -- and I'm not talking little meltdowns

I'm talking full-fledged scream, kick, punch, hit in the hallway with the parent. Did not exhibit this with us in the classroom typically, but big problems. And has a smaller child, and so some days

she would get so frustrated because she couldn't get him to the car. And this was a big deal for her. And so she came to the meeting that -- the most recent parent-family meeting that we had, and

she sat there and she listened as other parents were going around, and she's like, really? You all experience that? Because I don't see that. And they're like, oh my word, really? Yes, we do. And

what it created for us was that community of people who were helping one another. And one day I said to her, I said, do you want me to help? And she's like, no, I've got it. And she said to me later

just in fact recently she said, I was so embarrassed that I couldn't control my three-year-old, that someone else had to help me, I just didn't know what to do. I felt completely like a failure

And I resonated with her that you need to know that you're not a failure, first of all. Second of all, every parent in this program, myself included, have experienced that. And they are here to

help you because that's what we have. We have a community of people who want to support you. And she said, you know, I feel so much better. She emailed me the other day and she said, I just

wanted to let you know -- and I gave her some strategies and things to use then. And she emailed me the other day and she said, I just wanted to let you know, things have improved so much and I

feel like I have friends that help me. She said, the other day, so-and-so took her other child to the car for me, and I just dealt with the child. And she said, it went -- you know, what was a 45

minute ordeal a month ago became a five-minute ordeal, and then it was all over. Now that isn't true every day, but she felt like she had now a community of people to support her. AUDIENCE MEMBER: I

was going to say I just did a parent training just recently, and I always tell stories about my own son. I feel like I'm definitely not a perfect parent and think that it makes them feel more comfortable

that I've had my son on the floor having temper tantrums in the store. And I tell that, you know, freely, and I talk about the strategies they can use. But I want them to know that I've been in

those situations and that all of us have been in those situations and have those young children so that -- you know, they tend to feel like I'm not getting up and preaching to them, that I'm a perfect

parent. ROSE SNYDER: Exactly. And you know, it's not unusual for me -- I'll get to you in one second. It's not unusual for me when I'm working with a parent who's struggling, whether it be struggling

with their spouse or struggling with the teacher or with their child. I often will say to them, you know, I don't really have an answer, but let's -- let me look at some resources, let me give you

some resources, and let's come back and talk about it. And maybe we can come up with a plan together, you know, because I don't know all the answers. I believe in life-long learning and I am here

to tell you that if you enter into any family engagement situation and they know that you want to learn with them and help them, learn from them, you're not just dispelling knowledge on them, but

you're learning from them too, they will become more engaged. Because again, it becomes a partnership. Yes, ma'am, in the back? AUDIENCE MEMBER: [inaudible]. I have children, You know, I have two

boys myself. And my youngest, like he's my challenge and he has meltdowns, he has [inaudible] and I don't know how to handle them sometimes. So like -- and it really, it does. It makes them feel

comfortable and it makes them feel more willing to, you know -- ROSE SNYDER: It becomes a safe place. AUDIENCE MEMBER: You're not judging them. ROSE SNYDER: Exactly. And we have to really -- and

that's what I said about earlier, changing of the culture. The culture of our programs, whether it's an elementary school, an early childhood program, no matter what it is, the culture of our programs

has to change. And PBIS is the mechanism to do that, but it is a personal thing. The people who are using the model and all the goals and strategies as part of that model have to be -- it has to

be not something that you do, but who we are. It has to become the culture of your school. If it doesn't become the culture of your school, then there is no way that you can -- that you can actually

engage them and be a part of that. You had a comment, a quick comment, we're running slow on time here. AUDIENCE MEMBER: Well I did, and it was just that -- it's about parents and it ties into something

that you said about how parents really want to be the best parents that they can. And a lot of parents that we work with have been given inadequate tools, and it hit me when I was watching a home

improvement show on the weekend on HGTV or whatever. That when -- it's like when I watch those, I really want to be able to do that in my home. But then I go to, you know, my toolbox and I might

even have the tools, but I don't know how to use them. And so it's like that to me [inaudible]. ROSE SNYDER: And they not only -- not only that, but like the gentleman in the back said, they have

been given misinformation too. They may have even been told, you're a terrible parent. Look how your child behaves. And I'm sorry to say that that actually happens, you know. There are situations

out there where parents get the information that what you've done has created this problem. Now in our minds, some days we may think, well if you wouldn't do that, then -- you know, but the reality

is is that you have to help them and they have to help you. Our teachers who come in, our first-year teachers that come in, they don't know, they don't have all the answers. And pairing them with

someone who does is helpful. Giving a parent who's struggling another parent who's been in there, been there, done that, is helpful. I know we're running short on time and thank you Donna for keeping

me -- so I'm going to move on and I really, I could go for hours, but. So look for opportunities to provide family education. Look for opportunities. And it could be the teachable moment. Look

for those teachable moments. We talk about that a lot with children. Honestly, when I think about this, all the theories we use with children applies to parents. It's just on a different level, just

a different level. So this is one of our workshops we recently did for families on social emotional health. And as you can see, we had a wide variety. We had the big, bulky fireman fighter father

and, you know, we had the mothers, we had grandparents, we had about 20 parents who showed up, which in our program is about a third of our parents. Which I think that's a pretty decent, you know

group. Plus a group of core leadership team and the staff. So it was a good turnout. We had a lot of fun. But the teachers, the thing that was real astounding was when the teachers actually

said, I don't know how to handle this. What ideas have you used? And parents were like, excuse me? I thought we were coming here to -- you know, for you to teach us the magic answer. But when they

learn that there are no magic answers, trust me, my daughter's an adult and I still don't have any magic answers. But it is, you know, important that they know that. The impact of engaging

families, and I'm going to run through these very quickly, and I apologize. The impact affects everyone. It has effect for the center. Families want to share information, and communication becomes

interactive. It becomes two-way, not one-way. Positive relationships are supported. Again, it's all about the feelings, all about the support for one another. The center becomes a closer community

and everyone seeks the success of each other. People seek the success for each other. More investment for families. When parents are invested, they want it to succeed, so they try harder. The

impact for families is that there's a sense of comfort because they're invested, again, in the success for each other. There's consistent program expectations. That was a biggy in our program was

really helping them to understand that what was expected in the infant room is expected in the preschool room. There's no difference, you know? Now how that looks is different, but it's no different

for a kindergartener or a sixth grader. It's still the same. We expect people to behave in a certain way. Families feel a sense of empowerment with behavior problems arise because they know

the access for the behavioral resources. They no longer -- somebody else doesn't hold the secret anymore. They have someone to go to, whether it's a colleague as a parent or a professional in the

classroom or an administrator, or just the library in the program. They have a place to seek help. For families, they build stronger bonds, they build relationships. And I think Michelle, one of

our teachers here, could easily attest to when she really invested in those relationships, skyrocketing involvement in her classroom. Skyrocketing. And those administrators will know what classrooms

you have parent engagement in because you'll know what teachers -- what rooms teachers are involved. Those are the rooms that have it. The communication became two-way productive for the

benefit of the school culture. Families are engaged in planning for their child in a meaningful and proactive way that benefits home and community. So they're engaged in the family. It's not longer

you saying, okay, we're going to do this for your child because this is happening. It's an engagement. There are tools that you can use in the PBIS model: the assessment programs, the classroom

observation tools, the TPITOS and TPOT's. Those are really critical in helping you to identify those things that need to be improved upon, opportunities for continued growth. It's not that there's

something bad about them, there's just something that needs to continue to grow. It's all about reframing. Builds trust, including families builds trust. Somebody mentioned that is one of the barriers

initially. There's no trust. And if they know they trust you, they will become engaged. The impact for children, oh, this is huge. They have a whole community of people who want them to succeed

They want them to succeed. As they practice those skills, they can help one another. Parents can help other children. I mean, it's not uncommon to have parents in our program say to another child

are you being safe? Is that a safe thing to do? Is that a respectful thing to do? Because they have a community they care about and everybody's invested in it. There's a consistent set of

expectations for the children. This was an area that our teachers felt was a problem, and they felt like there was no consistency among the classrooms. Now that still is a struggle no matter what

because what bugs me doesn't bug you. You know, what is a problem behavior for me may not be a problem -- we talked about that in the early stages of the learning units, you know? What challenges

me may not challenge you. And a challenging behavior is not challenging behavior. A behavior that's challenging is not challenging behavior, so does that make sense? It teaches respect and

provides role models. By having family engagement, that family engagement encourages the respect, it teaches that role model for children to become engaged and be respectful. For the children, there's

consistency in between home and school. Parents and caregivers and staff partner for the success of children. They engage in planning for their child in a proactive way. A lot of these are the same

For staff, parents become partners, not adversaries. There's a consistent set of expectations center-wide. You see these overlap. Children feel more secure and have less behavioral issues. And for

staff, children have an entire community that support them. Families build closer relationships with staff, and families are more likely to share important details. That was key, important details

for their children. All right. So just to wrap up, these are just some of the tools we used. And that, you have a copy, that's just a letter. This was just a bulletin board that we did to share the

pyramid model with families. I'm going to wrap up here. CSEFEL is the website that we can use with families. For those who are not familiar with the CSEFEL website, it is the Center for Social Emotional

thank you. I was like, uh. Foundations. And that's just a copy of the pyramid model. That should be glued on the back of our eyes. This is just a graph of some information you can use with

families. It's part of the data collection process. This is the tool that I talked about that we give to families when they first enroll. It's what it looks like. It tells them about our core leadership

team, it tells them how to become involved in that. This is just -- this represents our family of growth, and that's just some things that we shared with families. And again, the flip side of this

item on the bottom is just what those program-wide expectations are. So ladies and gentlemen, thank you and sorry we didn't get done. Thank you very much for joining us here today. And Donna has

one more thing. DONNA TRACH: Okay. We included in the packet that positive behavior interventions support resources that you could share up here. It's a double, just to let you know, it's a double

print on here, so -- but you could cut it in half and use it as a handout to parents of websites that they can go to to get more information. And if they have a challenging behavior, they can actually

go to the website and look up that behavior and get some strategies. Also I included there's a resource list in here of books and videos and different things for parents that you could include

for your parents in your districts or your programs to help them with challenging behavior. And then I also just included another handout of just one of the many, many handouts that we provided

for the parents, just articles, updated articles, and current events and things, and community events, those kinds of things. And the other thing I just wanted to say, too, is one thing that

I worked on really hard with any relationship, starting with, you know, my kids, my, you know, personal and professionally, is to always do a lot of positive reinforcement, which you know. But a

lot of that positive reinforcement. Catch them while they're good. Catch the parents while they're good, catch the kids while they're good, your staff while they're good, and teach them some type

of positive self-talk. When you see a parent coming in negative and down on themselves and discouraged about their parenting and feeling a lack of confidence in what to do. I'm in a lot of

homes in what I do with my itinerant work, and I see from the roots of what's going on. And it's interesting for me that if I've met a parent in the community first and then they go -- then I go

into the home with the transition of preschool ending and then I go into the home, I mean, how much more -- you see what's going on, what's really going on with the family and how I can help. But

to teach the parents some positive self-talk and a mantra. Even if you come up with a mantra with them of something they can say to themselves to help themselves feel better, because as long as

they start feeling better physically, mentally, they're going to start feeling better. Anyway, thank you so much. This was a lot of fun. Thanks. 2